Detroit Leaders: We're 'Making Progress' on Violent Crime

Detroit leaders say violent crime is trending downward in the city, a fact Mayor Mike Duggan and law enforcement officials touted Thursday as they released the city’s complete, but still unofficial, 2017 crime statistics.

Police Chief James Craig admits that while the numbers are looking better, Detroit is still one of the most violent big cities in the country.

FBI data showed Detroit as the nation’s most violent big city in 2016. Craig has said the FBI’s numbers are wrong, and blamed that problem on faulty reporting software. He said DPD now uses new reporting software and error rates are close to zero.

Detroit’s own preliminary data show the city logged 267 criminal homicides in 2017. That number doesn’t include an additional 15 homicides deemed “justifiable.”